Edward John Belfour (born April 21, 1965) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. Belfour was born in Carman, Manitoba and grew up playing hockey. He played junior hockey for the Winkler Flyers before going to the University of North Dakota where he helped the school win the NCAA championship in the 1986–87 season. The following year, Belfour signed as a free agent with the Chicago Blackhawks (after not being picked in the draft) alternating time between them and the Saginaw Hawks of the International Hockey League. Many regard Belfour as an elite goaltender and one of the best of all-time. His 484 wins rank fifth all-time among NHL goaltenders. Belfour was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the 2011 class, his first year of eligibility. In addition Belfour is one of only two players to have won an NCAA championship, an Olympic Gold medal, and a Stanley Cup (the other such player is Neal Broten).
His characteristic face mask earned him the sobriquet “Eddie the Eagle”, and some of his quirks and off-ice antics earned him the nickname “Crazy Eddie”. After wearing #30 for his tenure with the Blackhawks, Belfour switched to #20 while a member of the San Jose Sharks as a tribute to Vladislav Tretiak, his goaltending coach and mentor from the Blackhawks. He would wear this for the rest of his playing career.
| Position | Goalkeeper/Gardien de but |
| International Hockey |  CanadaCanada Cup (1991  ) – Reserve GK no playing timeOlympics (2002 ) – Reserve GK no playing time |
| Club Hockey | Winkler Flyers (Manatoba Jr. Hockey League) North Dakota Fighting Sioux (NCHC – NCAA) Saganaw Hawks (International Hockey League) Chicago Blackhawks (National Hockey League) San Jose Sharks (National Hockey League) Dallas Stars (National Hockey League) Toronto Maple Leafs (National Hockey League) Florida Panthers (National Hockey League) Leksands IF (HockeyAllsvenskan Swedish Second Tier) |
| Awards and Honors | MJHL First All-Star Team (1986) Top Goaltender (1986) NCAA NCAAA Championship (1987) All-WCHA First Team (1987) AHCA West Second-Team All-American (1987) All-NCAA All-Tournament Team (1987) IHL First All-Star Team (1988) Gary F. Longman Memorial Trophy1 (shared with John Cullen) (1988) NHL Calder Memorial Trophy2 (1991) All-Rookie Team (1991) Vezina Trophy3 (1991 & ’93) William Jennings Trophy4 (1991, ’93, ’95, & ’99) All-Star Game (1992, ’93, ’96, ’98, ’99, & 2003) Stanley Cup (1999) Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award5(2000) Hockey Hall of Fame (2011) HockeyAllsvenskan Best GAA (2008) |
Career Statistics
Transactions
| 09/25/87 | Signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Blackhawks. |
| 01/25/97 | Traded by the Chicago Blackhawks to the San Jose Sharks for Ulf Dahlén, Michal Sýkora and Chris Terreri. |
| 07/02/97 | Signed as a Free Agent with the Dallas Stars. |
| 06/29/02 | Traded by the Dallas Stars with Cameron Mann to the Nashville Predators for 5th round draft pick in 2003 (Eero Kilpelainen) and David Gosselin. |
| 07/02/02 | Signed as a Free Agent with the Toronto Maple Leafs. |
| 07/25/06 | Signed as a Free Agent with the Florida Panthers. |
| 08/28/07 | Signed as a Free Agent with Leksands (Sweden-2). |
- Awarded annually to the Top Rookie in the International Hockey League ↩︎
- Awarded annually to the Top Rookie in the National Hockey League ↩︎
- Awarded annually to the Goalkeeper Adjudged to be the Best Goalkeeper in the League ↩︎
- Awarded annually to the Goalkeeper with the Lowest Goals Against Average ↩︎
- Awarded annually to the Goalkeeper with the Best Save Percentage (awarded from the 1999-2000 season and awarded 7 times with the final award being after the 2006-07) ↩︎